Shadows in The Sun
by lalchan
Summary: "This is Zuko, my seeing eye dragon." Toph's feet had seen a lot of things in her short life, but if she were to make a top ten, this would definitely be up there


AN And, here it is, a new story that was annoying me so much I had to right it down at 1:30 in the morning. Yes, tonight's a school night, yes I have to wake up early to get to class, yes I have exams tomorrow. But am I studying? Never!

Ha, take that common sense.

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for what happens here. I don't own it, and honestly it's not making much sense to me right now, due to caffeine and insomnia.

Please enjoy, but keep in mind, things were a bit different in my head. If you're confused about something . . . it's probably my fault.

EDIT 5/15/13: Just went back and fixed a few mistakes that were annoying me.

Chapter 1:

Toph lay gasping for breath on the sand, her fingers gripping the wet, gritty substance as if it were earth.

Finally, she could see. Maybe it was blurry, but she wasn't going to be picky. Honestly, it was a miracle she was alive right now.

_Guess that's one of the perks to being the Avatar's teacher- the spirits make sure you get all the good luck._

Although- the luck only went so far. It apparently couldn't stop the Fire Nation from attacking them every other day- just make sure they got away mostly unscathed.

After several long moment of filling her lungs with warm air, ridding her lungs of the remnants of sea water that she had previously been surrounded by, she stood- ever the stubborn and determined earth bender- and began heading off in a seemingly random direction. Of course, it wasn't random. The greatest earth bender in the world could feel a lot more vibrations coming from this direction, which probably meant a town.

_Get some food, then figure out how to get back to Aang. Maybe a fisherman would be able to help me- or I could wait here._ She snorted at that thought. Waiting to be rescued like a helpless damsel had never been her style.

_Just you wait Twinkletoes. I'll find you soon. And then I'm gonna pummel you into the ground for letting me go over board that stupid wooden boat._

"Stupid villagers." She muttered as she sat against a tree just outside the village. Honestly, you'd think people would love to help a poor innocent blind girl, but no, 'We're neutral, we cannot assist you.' She probably shouldn't have tried to play the Avatar card, or the Bei Fong card either. The fact that she was earth kingdom nobility _and_ the Avatar's teacher just made them more wary of her.

_Geez, what kind of koala-sheep for brains jerks won't help a twelve year old, just-almost-drowned blind girl?!_

Just then, she felt someone approach.

A small someone, probably younger than her, with nervous, yet eager steps.

"What do you want?" She asks, purposefully gazing in his general direction. She knew her stare freaked people out. The boy's heartbeat jolted, then slowed a little as he took a deep, nervous breath.

"I- uh, I want to help you." Toph raised a sceptic brow.

"No offense, but how exactly do you plan on helping me? The whole village is dead set on staying neutral, if you help me, won't they kick you out or something?"

She heard a smile in the kid's voice as he answered. "Oh, I'm not going to help you. The dragon is."

Toph's breath caught for a moment, and suddenly, she decided she was very interested in what this kid had to say.

"What dragon?" She asks, putting as much skepticism in her voice as possible- trying to lure out more information. This time, she can practically feel the grin it's so broad.

"I've met him before- when I was little-"

"You still are little." He ignored her.

"-I got lost in the woods, and he helped me. If you can find him, he might be willing to help you."

Toph paused. A dragon, helping her, which could fly. It would definitely be faster than a boat. And everyone would be really impressed. She could just imagine that moment, and once more, she wished she could see, so she could imagine the looks on their faces too.

_But all the dragons are supposed to be dead. Iroh said so._

"He'll be hard to find though. The village has sent many warriors out to find him, and none of them have ever even seen him."

She grinned.

"That shouldn't be too big a problem."

So, this was what a volcano felt like.

Hmm, kinda . . . watery, except, she could 'see' in the watery parts. For a brief moment, as she stood at the edge of the volcano, toes wriggling eagerly at the edge of emptiness and hot air, she thought about jumping into it- swimming in the stuff, swimming in _rock_ and _metal._

Nope, probably not a good idea.

Especially since she was feeling something big and snakelike down there, and she was pretty sure those were wings. Which meant that this, most likely, was the dragon's hang out.

It made sense, and also explained why none of the villagers had found the big guy yet. Yes, people would have to go and check to see if the volcano was gonna blow every once in a while, but she could feel how deep he was swimming. Mr Dragon could apparently hold his breath for quite a while.

_Somehow, he knows I'm here, and he doesn't want me to see him._ She gave a malicious grin to no one in particular. _Well, too bad buddy, cuz I've already 'seen' you._

"Hey, Dragon!" She yelled. "I know you're in there!"

Nothing.

Not that she had been expecting anything.

"I gotta ask you something. We can either do this the easy way-" she brought her hands together and cracked her knuckles, "-or the hard way."

Still nothing.

"Okay, buddy, you asked for it." And with that, she fell into a stance. Not her usual one. Bending metal took a different approach, and this was hot, melty, movable metal, mixed in with crystal and rock, with a bubbly, hot air sort of feel. She supposed if someone were to examine her closely, it would look something like Katara's water bending stance, but more rooted and aggressive. She felt the lava, pulled at it with her chi, finding the way to move it, to convince it to follow her slides and punches, how to coax it into doing what she wanted. And grinned. It wasn't everyday you got to outsmart a dragon.

She dragged her open hands into fists, forcing lava into a shape around the spiraling form. Bring fists and arms together, she punched upward, forcing lava into the air, then spun, landing with fists pointing down and open, releasing a very not happy dragon onto the now lava scorched ground.

"Sorry about that, but I did warn you." She heard a low growl, which she was expecting, and then . . .something that she was definitely _not._

Images, pictures, sensations, flooding her mind. She gasped, and fell back, gripping the earth tightly for support.

"What- " but she could say no more, for the sequence repeated itself:

_Warmth, red-yellow lava over scaled skin, a presence, unwelcome, diving, and suddenly, constricting, confusion, hurt, hunted, why?_

Toph just froze. What had- she had, colors! Those were colors! She had seen lava, but how- the dragon, was that how they communicated? But her thoughts were intruded once more.

_A young girl in green, callused feet sticking out, her hands on the ground, eyes blank, confusion, anger, _why?

"Wha- is that . . . me?" The girl in the picture, that was her? She looked so . . . tiny. She couldn't help but grimace. _Well, at least I'm not horribly ugly._ Toph paused, she didn't really have a frame of reference, so she didn't know what ugly was supposed to look like, but he was pretty sure she looked decent.

The dragon was growing irritated.

Ugh! Here she was, sitting in front of a dragon, and all she could do was sit there dumbly and think about whether she was pretty or not!

She was about to say something witty, and somehow convince this guy to give her a ride to her friends, when the dragon began to shift.

As in, he started changing.

Into a smaller, rather human shaped vibration.

_Spirits and stones._

Her unseeing eyes grew wider as she felt him adopt an annoyed stance and _speak._

"What do you want with me?!"

Toph _almost _gaped. She came so close. Because dragons don't turn into hot tempered kids right before you very feet. Actually, dragons were supposed to be extinct, and here she was, talking to one who could turn into a _human._ But she was Toph Bei Fong, the greatest earth bender in the world, the only metal bender in the world, and friend to the avatar. Some weird spirit-y dragon was not going to make her lose her cool.

After she managed to school her expression, she crossed her arms and leveled a glare in his general direction.

"Hey, I just came up here cuz some kid told me there was a friendly dragon up here who would help me find my friends."

"I'm not friendly!" Toph blinked.

"So . . . just to make sure, you're the dragon?"

"Of course I'm the dragon! Are you blind? Didn't you just see what happened?!"

Wow, people could be real idiots sometimes. But secretly, Toph felt a little pleased. It was kind of nice, people automatically assuming she was perfectly normal and could do things herself. It was why she teased Sokka so much. He saw her as an equal, and immediately assumed she could do everything he could- if not more, her being a bender- that confidence in her abilities from others was . . . comforting.

"Yes, actually, I am blind. Thanks for noticing."

There was the inevitable awkward pause, then, "Oh, uh, well-"

"Hey, don't worry about it, common mistake."

"How did you find me if you couldn't even see?" Toph resisted the urge to face palm. Wow, it was like everyone she met rehearsed this conversation.

"Earth bending. I can feel vibrations in the earth- which includes lava by the way- and figure out where things are and what's going on around me."

"Hmm." There was a pause, and the dragon-turned human shifted.

"So, will you help me?"

"What?"

"Help me, find my friends. You know, the whole reason I'm even here?" He huffed and gave the ground an annoyed stomp that would have made any earth bender proud.

"I'm not some sort of charity! I won't just do whatever people ask me to!"

"Hey, you helped some kid who got lost in the forest, can't you help a poor, innocent blind girl lost and alone on an island with no one to help her?"

"You're hardly helpless, why don't you get the villagers to help you? And while you're at it, tell them they can deal with their own problems."

"Hey, I already asked those jerks for help, but they just blew me off because I was earth kingdom," _well, mostly,_ "that's why I'm here! I really need to find my friends, it's important!"

There was another moment of quiet, and from his stance, Toph could guess that he was looking her over, trying to decide on whether she was telling the truth, and what to do.

"My names Toph, by the way." There was an audible swallow, and his heartbeat quickened slightly, as if nervous.

"I- I am Zuko."

Aang walked nervously around the ship, leaving a trail of wind and dust behind him.

He was nervous. Afraid, really. Toph was gone- _gone_. How could she be gone? She was so tough, and she always stood her ground, but after the battle, after Hakoda's men and 'Team Avatar' had driven off the two Fire Nation ships, they had realized that she was missing.

He swallowed, and quickened his pace.

"Can't we do something?" He asked Sokka, who was doing weird stuff to his boomerang- sharpening it maybe- as he sat at the edge of the deck, his warrior's wolf tail blowing back and forth between natural and unnatural breezes.

"We already went through this Aang, it's better to do this by boat, Toph is small, it'll be best if we look by boat." Sokka left out the reminder that they had already flown quite a distance from the ship in all directions, looking for the lost blind girl, with no luck at all.

Aang ran a hand through nonexistent hair- hair that had been their a few days ago, before the day of the black sun. Before the failed invasion and their retreat.

"I- I know, I just, I wish there was something we could do." Sokka nodded, and was suddenly hit by a rush of pent up words.

"I mean, what if she got taken by the Fire Nation ships, they could be interrogation her right now! Or she got hurt when she fell- Sokka, I can't do this! I have to go out and look!"

A shadow fell over them.

"It's nice to know you care, Twinkletoes."

Two pairs of eyes shot upward.

They both gaped.

There, hovering in the air, was a magnificent red and gold dragon. His wings beat a silent rhythm into the air, and smoke trailed lazily from his nostrils.

Sokka scooted a little farther back. Aang took a step forward.

"A dragon." He breathed. While the brave Water Tribe warrior squeaked, and scrambled to hold up his ever faithful boomerang.

"Yep." came the familiar voice once more. A flicker of green, and suddenly a small figure landed right in front of them.

"Toph! You're okay!"

"Toph, step away from the dragon." Sokka said, wearily sticking his weapon of choice out as far as possible and edging slowly over to their friend. "Don't worry, Boomerang will protect us." Toph snorted.

"Don't worry Snoozles, he's with me."

Sokka blinked. "What?"

"Yep," she grinned- never a good sign- and jabbed a finger in the dragon's direction. "This is Zuko. My seeing eye dragon." The dragon growled and twitched slightly at the proclamation.

"Oh, don't worry Sparky, I won't make you wear a leash." She paused, and her grin grew wider. "Unless you don't behave."

-end-

AN So, did you like? Alright, maybe a little weird. At first, I was going to make it so he was cursed, and was a dragon by day, and human by night . . .

but I just didn't have the patience to right all that.

So . . . maybe he's part dragon, and he was banished for his 'lack of control' over his forms?(Ozai is such a jerk) That sounds plausible, It would be inconvenient if your heir kept turning into a supposedly extinct creature that your grandfather was infamous for hunting down. . . oh, and yes, he does have the scar. I may come back and edit this in the future. I also may write a follow up. Who knows. And, in case you're wondering, no Zuko has not yet agreed to join them, but Toph has decided that he is. And you know how earth benders can be.


End file.
